In folklore, a werewolf[a] (Old English: werwulf, "man-wolf"), or
occasionally lycanthrope /ˈlaɪkənˌθroʊp/ (Greek:
Î»Ï…ÎºÎ¬Î½Î¸Ï Ï‰Ï€Î¿Ï‚ lukánthrÅ pos, "wolf-person"), is a human with
the ability to shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film,
a therianthropic hybrid wolflike creature), either purposely or after
being placed under a curse or affliction (often a bite or scratch from
another werewolf) with the transformations occurring on the night of a
full moon. Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction,
called lycanthropy /laɪˈkænθrÉ™pi/, are Petronius (27â€"66) and
Gervase of Tilbury (1150â€"1228).In folklore, a werewolf[a] (Old
English: werwulf, "man-wolf"), or occasionally lycanthrope
/ˈlaɪkÉ™nˌθroÊŠp/ (Greek: Î»Ï…ÎºÎ¬Î½Î¸Ï Ï‰Ï€Î¿Ï‚ lukánthrÅ pos,
"wolf-person"), is a human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf
(or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolflike
creature), either purposely or after being placed under a curse or
affliction (often a bite or scratch from another werewolf) with the
transformations occurring on the night of a full moon. Early sources
for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy
/laɪˈkænθrÉ™pi/, are Petronius (27â€"66) and Gervase of Tilbury
(1150â€"1228).The werewolf is a widespread concept in European
folklore, existing in many variants, which are related by a common
development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European
folklore developed during the medieval period. From the early modern
period, werewolf beliefs also spread to the New World with
colonialism. Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief
in witches, in the course of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern
period. Like the witchcraft trials as a whole, the trial of supposed
werewolves emerged in what is now Switzerland (especially the Valais
and Vaud) in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe in
the 16th, peaking in the 17th and subsiding by the 18th century.The
persecution of werewolves and the associated folklore is an integral
part of the "witch-hunt" phenomenon, albeit a marginal one,
accusations of lycanthropy being involved in only a small fraction of
witchcraft trials.[b] During the early period, accusations of
lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf) were mixed with accusations
of wolf-riding or wolf-charming. The case of Peter Stumpp (1589) led
to a significant peak in both interest in and persecution of supposed
werewolves, primarily in French-speaking and German-speaking Europe.
The phenomenon persisted longest in Bavaria and Austria, with
persecution of wolf-charmers recorded until well after 1650, the final
cases taking place in the early 18th century in Carinthia and
Styria.[c] Werewolf Top Movies & Young Movies